Tom Shanahan is getting a second chance at life.
All things considered, it might be a third and fourth chance, too, for the 66-year-old Lockport man.
“He technically died three times,” said Tom’s wife, Fran Shanahan.
But because there were heroes in the right place at the right time, Shanahan survived after a heart attack against some pretty heavy odds. He had 100 percent arterial blockage on his right side as a result of “smoking for about 50 years probably,” Shanahan said.
The 35-year veteran of the Chicago Fire Department said he doesn’t remember having any symptoms of a heart attack on Feb 7. It was like any other workday at his part-time job at the BP gas station at 9545 W. 191st St. in Mokena, he said.
Former Frankfort resident Jasmine Coomer, 28, the station manager, said although the workday began as usual, things changed quickly when Shanahan made a request that was unusual for him: He asked to sit down and rest.
Coomer said she thought Shanahan must be ill although he didn’t complain of not feeling well.
“I kept asking him if he was OK, and he kept saying, ‘Yes,’ ” Coomer said.
But Shanahan was not OK.
More Top Picks Best Grab Bars For Bathroom Safety
“I went in the cooler to get a crate, and when I came back, that’s when I found him lying on the floor,” Coomer said. She called his name, and when he didn’t respond, Coomer dialed 911 and described Shanahan’s symptoms to the dispatcher.
Coomer said she was keeping a close watch on Shanahan, taking his pulse frequently and watching his breathing as she waited for the emergency vehicle.
At that point, Coomer said, Shanahan was like someone “in a deep sleep.”
Then, suddenly, he stopped breathing.
“He lost his pulse in the same moment,” Coomer said.
Coomer, who said she had completed training as a certified nursing assistant about five years ago, put her knowledge to good use and began chest compressions under the direction of the dispatcher.
“(I was) scared out of my mind,” Coomer said, but she just kept working on Shanahan until Mokena Police Officer Michael DePolo arrived and took over. DePolo completed a CPR refresher course through the Mokena Fire Department two weeks earlier and immediately began aggressive chest compressions, which paid off for Shanahan. Before the ambulance arrived, DePolo said he saw signs of life.
“I started to see movement in his neck,” DePolo said.
But Shanahan wasn’t out of the woods. His heart stopped again in the ambulance and in the emergency room at Silver Cross Hospital.
“It was frightening when they said they had to resuscitate and give him the shock paddles again,” Fran said. “When (the doctor) said, ‘Again,’ he didn’t really explain that it had already been done twice before.”
The third time was the charm.
Tom Shanahan said he doesn’t intend to have a repeat heart attack. He hasn’t smoked since Feb. 7, he said, and he has begun an exercise routine at home in addition to attending therapy three times a week. With family support, he is eating healthier, too.
“I read the labels on everything I eat now, which I never did before,” Shanahan said. “I’ve lost 20 pounds. … by eating normal instead of garbage all the time.”
Fran Shanahan said she has written “thank you” letters to Coomer, DePolo and all of the emergency responders who helped her husband survive. She said she also put Mokena Police Chief Steven Vaccaro on her list.
Vaccaro said, “I could not be more proud of Officer DePolos’s (and Coomer’s) efforts in responding to Mr. Shanahan’s cardiac arrest. As a police chief, it is refreshing to know that my officers will not hesitate to serve our customers, no matter what they need.”
Tom is perhaps the most grateful because the quick-thinking and persistent efforts of others allow him to continue to be a father, grandfather and husband to his family members.
“When they told me (what) Jasmine and Mike did,” Tom said, “there are no words to say what I felt about them. (I’m) so grateful that they were both there and did what they did. I’m just happy that I’m still here.”
Heroic deeds affect the heroes, too.
Coomer, with one lifesaving incident under her belt, said she feels “like a better citizen to be able to help somebody.” She plans to take the Mokena Fire Department’s CPR course.
“It’s something to reinforce (this),” she said. “You never know.”
DePolo, 42, a 15-year veteran with the Mokena Police Department who is seen by many as a hero, knows that what he did is a possibility at any time for a policeman. But it was his first time saving a life, and he knows that it was an awesome thing.
“It is definitely the highlight of my 15 years, that’s for sure,” DePolo said.
Ginger Brashinger is a freelance columnist for the Daily Southtown.
More Top Picks Best Neck Wraps For Tension Headaches